Knightfall: The Battle of Coruscant
by Whiskers10
Summary: AU.  Palpatine's identity as Darth Sidious as been discovered by the Republic, but that's not all that's been changed in this infinity...
1. Chapter 1

The _Providence_-class destroyer known as the _Invisible Hand_ floated in the space above Coruscant, several of its "sisters" flanking her. Turbolaser shots screamed through the space between it and the defenders of the Republic's capital. Some missed entirely, others impacted onto the mighty shields of the ships in battle. Starfighters raced throughout the busy space, dogfighting with their enemies, sometimes attempting to strafe one of the large capital ships on either side only to be destroyed by the point-defense guns.

The closing battle of the Clone Wars had begun.

Inside of the main observation room in the Wizard's Tower on the _Invisible Hand_, a black-robed figure silently watched the ensuing chaos as it unfolded. His yellow eyes studying the movements of his enemies and his own troops, Darth Vader's mind raced. The Separatist invasion of Coruscant wasn't the final push into Republic territory like every one on the ground thought; instead, it was a rescue mission. Vader's master was close to being discovered, and the man that the entire galaxy knew as Chancellor Palpatine was about to be outed as the Sith Lord he was.

"Lord Vader," a gruff mechanical voice said from the turbolift doors in the observation room, "pardon the interruption, but it is time to descend to the surface."

"Thank you, General Grievous," Vader replied, causing the almost completely cybernetic military leader of the CIS to bow slightly before him. He pulled the black hood of his robe up and over his head before turning around. "We shall rescue Lord Sidious before the Jedi do find out his identity."

The shuttle soared through the skies of Coruscant minutes later, flanked on all sides by Vulture droids and Tri-fighters. The cover fire for the vessel slammed into Z-95's, the first responders to the assault on the capital. "Tell them to be on the lookout from more powerful starfighters," Darth Vader spoke as he watched from a chair adjacent to the pilot droid.

"Yes sir," the droid replied, the message to the droid control ship already relayed the second that Vader had spoken it.

"We must hurry," Vader mumbled.

The droid starfighters, moving in maneuvers limited to only the machine's aerodynamics instead of a living being inside of them, banked left and right to intercept the Republic's ARC-170 starfighters that had just been spotted by the sensors aboard the craft. A number of the Tri-fighters remained with the shuttle, still ready to provide cover when needed.

Ahead in the distance, the Galactic Senate was 13 kilometers away.

"Master Yoda," Obi-Wan Kenobi said inside of a private chamber in the Galactic Senate, "our droids in the library have confirmed the recent evidence. Palpatine is the Sith we're looking for."

The diminutive Jedi Master nodded his head sadly and then ran a three fingered hand through his balding gray hair. "Afraid of this, I was," he said to the Jedi Knight beside him. "Obi-Wan," he continued, "of Chancellor Palpatine's duplicity, warn the Senate. Notify the Order, I will. Remove the Sith from power, we must." To accent his final statement, the tip of his cane struck the ground.

Inside of his office, minutes later, Darth Sidious fingered his lightsaber impatiently. Things had gone wrong, and his plan to take control of the Republic by wile and cunning had failed. Now the thousand-year history of the modern Sith order was in vital danger. If Lord Vader couldn't rescue him in time… He looked toward his HoloNet transceiver near his desk, and the answer finally dawned upon him. It wouldn't wipe out as many Jedi as he had hoped, but it would reduce their numbers considerably. He walked quickly towards the device and thumbed it on. This message would be relayed to all clone leaders in the galaxy, and perhaps this defeat would easily be turned into a victory. "Commanders, Lieutenants and all others. The Jedi have betrayed the Republic. Execute Order 66…"


	2. Part 2

Knightfall: Part 2

Commander Appo stood inside of a meeting room in the senate building, his blue-striped armor a stark contrast from the red carpeting and walls. He was commander of the 501st Legion, an army unit of the clones that HNN had taken to call one of the most skilled in the Grand Army, and he intended that that reputation stuck.

The comlink in his helmet flashed, an incoming message from Palpatine from the look of it. With a miniscule movement, he played the message. Palpatine looked worried, frightened even. His slightly balding grey hair was disheveled, and his eyes darted back and forth as if he was looking for anyone spying on the conversation. "Commanders Appo, Bow, the Jedi have betrayed the Republic. Execute Order 66." The voice was calm, calculating even.

Appo and his second-in-command Bow both nodded as they received the order to terminate the Jedi, every one them. Unlike ARCs and commandos, regular clone troops had no independent decision-making powers when it came to disobeying orders. The two and the other clones in the room checked their DC-15s, making sure that the gas and energy cells in the large blaster rifle were adequately filled.

Appo approached Yoda, the order he had been given had to be fulfilled. The other clones moved closer to the center of the room as well, their weapons armed and ready.

"Master Yoda," he said, kneeling before the Jedi Grand Master, "your suspicions were right. "Palpatine indeed attempted to order your deaths."

Yoda silently nodded and then gritted his teeth as a small wave of Jedi deaths rippled their way through the Force. "Received the message of Palpatine's recent dismissal, not everyone got…" he sadly said.

"I'm sorry, sir," Appo offered. "I'll contact HQ and have them continue relaying the message. We'll stop them from killing more."

The only door leading into the room opened, causing the clones to immediately turn towards it, rifles aimed. "It's only me," Obi-Wan Kenobi stated as the soldiers lowered their firearms. "I take it that Palpatine just tried to murder us," he added.

"That's right, sir," Bow replied.

"The majority of the Senate that could be roused voted in favor of removing Palpatine after learning that he was a Sith Lord," he reported. "Just in the nick of time, I guess."

"The other Jedi," Yoda began, "arriving are they?"

"Yes, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan answered. "The best we have available in the Temple."

"We're taking an awful risk pulling them from the front lines, generals," Appo stated. "What about the battle droids and the destroyers on the streets of Coruscant now?"

"Confederacy and Sith leadership, to hear they come," Yoda replied. "An end to the war, we can cause."

"Why not simply let them rescue Palpatine and then blow their _shabla_ shuttle out of the sky?"

"The Jedi way, that is not," Yoda replied.

"Master Yoda," Bow interrupted. "A LAAT filled with your Jedi has just landed. We have about two minutes before the enemy arrives here."

With that news, Jedi Master Yoda and Knight Kenobi walked out of the room, ready to meet their colleagues and prepare for the battle against the CIS forces that would soon be entering the building. There would be senators and other politicians to protect, Appo thought, the last words that Master Yoda had said to him still running through his head. "Bloody Jedi," he muttered, his comlink off.

The shuttle/transport landed in a heap minutes later as the war continued behind them. Starfighters strafed buildings, slagging durasteel and shattering transparisteel as the blaster shots pelted them. The doors on the shuttle opened and the platoon of super battle droids stepped out of the vessel first, robotic shields for the leaders inside of the shuttle. 501st clone troopers taking cover behind the massive pillars that framed the entrance of the senate building opened fire on the droids, the blue laser bolts flying towards the enemy. The droids fired back, singeing the air.

"Now is the time," Darth Vader shouted over the blasterfire to his lone companion. General Grievous nodded and ordered the single droideka to deploy. The battle droid that had proved to be so devastating to clone and Jedi alike during the war formed itself into the ball that was its primary form of travel and then rolled meters away before unfolding. The blue deflector shield switched on before any of the clone's frantic shots towards the droid could hit their mark. The four blasters in the two "hands" of the fearsome droid opened fire upon the hapless clones, melting the plastoid armor of them when the shots hit and blasting large holes in the columns.

Grievous was the first to leave the ship, his sturdy duranium armored body strong enough to resist the occasional blaster shots that managed to break past the droid "wall". Only the sac containing the remains of his organs were really vulnerable, and they were incased deep behind a solid artificial rib cage. His green cape billowed behind him, but not before the mostly cyborg Kaleesh general withdrew two of the many lightsabers he had deposited in specially made pouches. He ignited the two swords as he approached, the blue and yellow blades springing into existence just in time to slice into the nearest clone trooper, cutting him into three pieces. Two of his completely robotic bodyguards followed, staying behind their general to gain the full advantage of the position.

Mechanized limbs moved nearly blindingly fast, luckily blocking four blaster shots as they cut into another clone.

Vader followed the general, his own red lightsaber igniting the second he stepped off of the transport. He blatantly ignored the blaster fire as it slowly petered down as the clones began to fall back to the main hall. The droideka had been destroyed, but the damage had been done. A casual wave of his left hand violently threw three straggling clones into two columns, the sounds of their necks breaking as they hit was barely audible.

"Master Yoda," Commander Appo reported as the updates from the front reached him, "they've entered the building."

"Then we need to move now," Quinlan Vos stated, the Kiffar Jedi Master standing with his back to the wall, arms crossed. His former Padawan Aayla Secura stood next to Master Yoda.

"I agree with Master Vos," Mace Windu said. "They cannot easily flee the senate now, and we must neutralize them before any harm comes to the senators."

Obi-Wan Kenobi tuned out the remaining conversation and studied the room. Other than Masters Yoda, Windu and Vos, and Aayla, there were only two other Jedi in the room beside himself. The tall, Whiphid Jedi Master K'Kruhk was a revered member of the order and was sure to be on the Jedi Council in no time, the way the war was going. And the second… Obi-Wan could barely look at her. Siri Tachi, the blonde Jedi Master with whom Obi-Wan had trained with when they were both younglings. They had fallen in love with each other then; feelings that both tried to stop once they were made aware of the consequences of. The feelings had rekindled somewhat after the battle of Naboo, and then… He looked away from her, not wanting to risk seeing her left hand. "Protect the senators with the clones, I will," Yoda said, breaking Obi-Wan's dwellings on the past by jumping up onto his hoverchair. "May the Force be with us," he said before steering his way out of the room flanked by the two clone commanders.

K'Kruhk motioned Obi-Wan and Siri over to him and the two other Jedi followed. "We have been tasked to intercept General Grievous and Darth Vader when they are here," he motioned to a holographic map of the senate chamber, his large index finger pointing to a hallway surrounding a lower portion of the senate chamber. "The only way to reach the former Chancellor is through this turbolift," he added. "We are to guard it with our lives. We must ensure that Mace, Quinlan and Aayla are not outflanked by his allies. If Shaak Ti is able to arrive from the front in time, she will join us as well. Hopefully," K'Kruhk mused, "she will be fashionably late, flanking them and giving us an advantage."

Obi-Wan nodded. At last the Sith were going to fall. And finally he would have the chance to right his own wrongs.

Darth Vader effortlessly blocked the blaster fire from the clone troopers as they took cover behind the doors to various offices and closets in the hallways of the senate. Only once had the Sith attacked the legislature building itself in the past, and the purpose of the mission—rescue—was the same. Vader had heard those stories from the Holocrons his master had allowed him access to, and eagerly waited for his day to do as Exar Kun did. In his mind's eye, he could see himself destroy the insignificant Yoda and bring an end to the Jedi once and for all.

His left arm reached out once again, fingers splayed, and sent forth a torrent of electrical energy that arced through the air. Four clones were hit, killing them nearly instantly. The walls were also charred black from the lightning.

The clone resistance was getting lighter, he noticed as he, Grievous, and the monster's bodyguards continued down the hallway, slaughtering anyone who got in their way. _We must be getting close_, he thought. _The Jedi will be here soon._ A redirected blaster shot ended the "life" of the last clone in the hallway as Vader stopped. "Grievous," he said, removing the hood of the cloak from his head. "Stay here. Keep our escape route clean." The mechanical general nodded in agreement and ceased following the young Sith. His bodyguards thumbed off their magnastaffs and waited.

He continued down the hallway, taking a stairway down to the lowest level of the area surrounding the chambers. About 20 meters away, he remembered, would be the turbolift that served as the only way in or out of the floor that housed Sidious' office in this building. He stopped four meters after leaving the stairwell. It was then that he physically saw his nemeses standing in the hallway, each one positioned to block his passage. _Fools!_ He thought as he readied himself into an aggressive stance, his lightsaber craving more flesh. _It's almost as if they want to die. I shall oblige them…_

Darth Sidious cursed as he received notice of his political disposal minutes after issuing the order designed to kill the Jedi. The clones had tricked him! They must have known of it before it hit the official HoloNews. For HNN was the only physical resource that Palpatine had access to at the moment. Even now he could sense the three Jedi sent to neutralize him making their way to his office, three more set meters away to attempt and prevent his rescue. He gripped his lightsaber tighter in his hands, readying himself for the battle to come.

They were close to the door now, about ready to enter his office. Smiling to himself, he thought of a new plan; one that would shift the odds even more to his favor. He placed his lightsaber back onto the desk and turned to face the door. His hands raised towards the door, he scowled as it opened. Three Jedi entered and were soon standing in a line, blocking him from escaping. A powerful arc of lightning surged from his hands, headed towards the three Jedi. The human and the Kiffar blocked the attack with their lightsabers, the tendrils of electricity wrapping harmlessly around the violet and green blades. The twi'lek wasn't as lucky, however. The attack wrapped around her body, burning her skin and devastating her body. A cry of anguish was the last thing that left Aayla Secura's mouth. Her life force ebbed out of her body as she died, the ripple of the death affecting every Jedi and Sith in the area.

His ambush done, Sidious once again called his lightsaber to his hand and ignited the blood-red blade. His anger and rage flowed through him, and he used that strength to bolster his own combat abilities, as well as those of Vader and Grievous. It was a perverse form of battle meditation, and it was guaranteed to give the Sith aligned forces yet another advantage. There was no way that they could lose…


	3. Part 3

Knightfall: Part Three

Quinlan Vos' mind burned with the power of the most powerful star in the galaxy as he felt his former Padawan die at the hands of the Sith Lord before him; heard her last breath be exhaled in an agonized scream. Like a friend of his, he had also struggled with the dark side during the past twelve years, and this was just one more test. He wanted to rush at Palpatine right then, his own martial prowess augmented by the rage that coursed through his body. Yet he held himself. All the anger and power in the galaxy wouldn't bring his Padawan back to life, and it would only create one more enemy for his friends and colleagues in the order to fight. He gritted his teeth and brought himself back to his senses. "Surrender now, Palpatine," he warned, a durasteel sharp edge to his voice. "This is your last chance."

"Surrender?" Sidious repeated, a hint of a laugh sneaking through. "It is you who should bow down before me and beg forgiveness. I just might grant it."

Mace Windu raised his lightsaber over his head and waited for the opportunity to strike. He gazed through the Force as if he were a jeweler looking at a gem, looking for its weak points; looking for where he should strike for the moment to shatter completely. It was odd, he thought as he peered at Palpatine through the context of THE Sith Lord. He wasn't the shatterpoint. Killing Palpatine wasn't the place to strike if this crisis were to be resolved. It confused him. Sidious took advantage of this momentary lapse of consciousness and attacked, only to his crimson blade intercepted by Vos.

Letting loose a cry of rage and hatred towards the Jedi order in particular, Sidious pivoted away from Vos' blade as the Kiffar Jedi Master aimed a riposte at his midsection. This was it, Sidious thought as he retreated, taking a few steps backwards, now meters away from his desk. This was his brightest hour. The Sith would escape and go into hiding once again, he thought. One day, maybe even this one, he would have their revenge.

Windu finally attacked Palpatine, not quite willing at the moment to slip into full Vaapad—a form of lightsaber combat that Windu had finished creating and mastered. He was the only living vaapad master in the galaxy, and that made him dangerous. His overhead strike was meant to cleave Sidious from collarbone to groin, but instead it met an early end several centimeters away from its target at the end of Sidious' lightsaber. Vos surged in, twisting around and targeting the Sith's undefended side. He, too, was blocked.

Sidious slashed twice, once at each of his two attackers, only to have them deflected harmlessly. He gritted his teeth and aimed a spinning kick at Quinlan, catching him under the chin and causing the Kiffar to stumble backwards for about a meter. Sidious swooped in towards Windu, hoping to take advantage of the short amount of time against him alone.

Darth Vader grinned as he viewed his opponents, wallowing in the effect that his reputation had on the three Jedi before him. First, however, he would have some fun. "Obi-Wan Kenobi…" he said, taking the slightest dramatic pause between each word in the bearded Jedi Knight's name. "We meet again."

Kenobi stood on edge, remembering the dark days after the death of Qui-Gon Jinn at the hands of Darth Maul, how he had been wounded early in the fight and unable to help his Master defeat the Sith. His first encounter with the newest Dark Lord had happened five years later. Yet they weren't exactly enemies then… He gave a pained look towards Siri before finally speaking out. "You won't goad me into the wrong path again, Vader," he said. "I am a Jedi, and no longer haunted by things in which I had no control over."

"Shall I test that theory?" Vader smirked. With inhuman speed, Vader charged. His blood-red blade aimed directly at Siri Tachi. All three Jedi moved their lightsabers to intercept the attacking Sith, each one ready to attack. Vader flipped over them, narrowly missing getting bisected by Siri's pink blade. K'Kruhk rotated and took Vader's blade on his own as the young Sith put his strength into his first attack. Obi-Wan pivoted in the narrow hall and swung towards Vader, his attack easily being parried.

Already with nothing between himself and the way to his master, Vader backpedaled slightly, allowing the Jedi to follow him through the hallway. He knew what would happen if he broke out in a run towards the turbolift. A thrown lightsaber to the back would end the rescue very quick. K'Kruhk sliced his way towards Vader, followed quickly by Obi-Wan and Siri. The three blades were aimed at different portions of the body, but all failed to hit the Sith. Vader powered his way back, each footstep backwards taking him closer to his master.

Yet despite his bravado and his taunts aimed at the enemy, the seeds of doubt had been planted inside of him. He was young when he had been freed from his life of slavery on Tatooine by his master, the Toydarian slave master that owned he and his mother slaughtered by Sidious. He didn't know what happened to his mother after that, but only he had left Tatooine that day. Sidious held his mother hostage from him in a way, saying that if he trained harder, one day he would get to see her. Vader blocked two incoming strikes and kicked towards Siri, the spinning movement of the kick enabling him to dodge the third attack. So far, he hadn't seen her since that day. It made him hate his master in a way, a tool that every Sith must have, for eventually, the learner must become the master.

Vader's next attack sliced through a portion of K'Kruhk's outer robe, burning a portion of the brown fabric and shredding it. The Whiphid Jedi Master brought his green lightsaber down after managing to dodge the nearly incapacitating blow, only to be blocked by the much more powerful Sith. For three against one, this fight was not going well at all.

CT-5338/CS—better known to his troops and the regularly birthed beings as Lieutenant Barric—led his platoon of troops through the halls of the senate building, the boots of the clones clanking against the floor. The soldiers held their DC-15s ready, never knowing where the droids that had infiltrated the building were going to be.

The sound of metal hitting metal was up ahead, around a curve in the wall. Barric motioned for complete silence from his platoon, each of the clone troopers readied their weapons for the enemy ahead. The clone soldiers rounded the corner and aimed their blaster rifles at what they believed to be a squad of battle droids. They not many of the metallic enemy but only one. Grievous.

The clones fired but did not damage to the charging cyborg save for slightly charring his body. Barric saw the front line of his already halved platoon fall to the lightsabers of the most terrifying non-Force-sensitive in the Confederacy. Then he screamed as two lightsabers plunged into his chest.

Sidious leapt backwards onto his desk, and then propelled himself towards the two Jedi Masters. Mace and Quinlan simultaneously dodged out of the way and aimed their 'sabers at the flying Sith Lord. Palpatine landed two meters away from the Jedi and feinted towards Vos. The Kiffar Jedi Master brought his blade up to defend against the imaginary attack, not allowing himself to defend Mace from Palpatine's curving swing.

Windu blocked the blow with his violet blade and then his mind became supremely focused on the moment. The two Jedi advanced towards the Sith, lightsabers blazing in the air. Sidious quickly and easily blocked the two incoming strikes directed towards him. It was almost odd, Palpatine thought as he continued his battle. He hadn't picked up a lightsaber in years, preferring to leave his own machinations in place to take control of the galaxy. Despite this, however, he was keeping up the pace against the two powerful Jedi Masters. It was his destiny, he thought as he nearly decapitated Vos before the attacked dodged out of the way. A dreadlocked piece of hair fell to the floor, the only thing disturbed.

The two Jedi continued their assault, attempting to pin the rampaging Sith against the wall and limit his speed advantage. Their blades arced towards the former Chancellor, only to see the robed Sith leap over them. A wave of his hand opened the hole in the ceiling above his desk, letting the besieged Sith escape from a room with far too little space to conduct a "proper" duel, into an arena in which he could move as freely as he liked. He leapt into the senate chamber, Mace and Quinlan quickly behind him.

Darth Vader spun around, wielding his lightsaber with precise control. An arc of crimson death surged towards the three Jedi, only for it to be blocked by Kenobi. Vader pushed outwards with the Force, sending Siri to the floor. A well-placed kick sent K'Kruhk stumbling backwards, leaving only Vader and Obi-Wan in the fight for now.

"You'll fail them again, Kenobi," Vader taunted, his two hands pushing towards Obi-Wan, the two locked lightsabers slowly moving towards the Jedi. Vader pushed against Kenobi's saber, knocking the knight back a meter. K'Kruhk had regained his footing now and attempted to press the numbers advantage, bringing his lightsaber down towards the young Sith. Vader sidestepped it and caught K'Kruhk's arm with a glancing blow. Whiphid howled in pain and dropped his blade. A now mobile Siri Tachi intercepted Vader's follow-up attack that would have burned a hole through the heart of the Jedi Master.

Vader pivoted to avoid Obi-Wan's blade and struck out towards the female Jedi with his own blade. Sparks flew and Siri cried out in pain as her left hand was severed. Wires "bled" sparks and hydraulic fluid as the prosthetic hand hit the ground. Vader took advantage of the moment when the pain receptors were still active and lunged towards the injured Jedi. Obi-Wan tried to block the attack, but he and K'Kruhk were both violently pushed into the wall. The Whiphid hit his head hard against the metallic wall of the hallway, knocking him out temporarily. The point of the red blade burned through Siri's midsection and out her back. Obi-Wan could only watch as she fell to the ground, mortally wounded.

Rage surged through him like it did in the Queen's apartment when the Zabrak Sith Lord had seriously wounded him and killed his Master. He suppressed the rage, determined not to give in to the dark side; not again. He closed his eyes and allowed the Force to calm him and clear his thoughts. By the time K'Kruhk regained his footing, the battle was renewed.


	4. Part 4

Knightfall: Part 4

Obi-Wan was once the most promising pupil in the Jedi Order. Despite the initial rejections of several Masters when he was but a youngling, he found his place in the order soon enough when Qui-Gon Jinn reluctantly took him as an apprentice. He had learned much from Qui-Gon, and despite some earlier brushes with defiance, became what some had called a model Jedi.

Then came the Sith. A heavily tattooed Zabrak had attempted to kidnap the then queen of Naboo. He had been wounded in the battle, Qui-Gon had been killed. Then the council had gone to battle to liberate the planet of Naboo, and Jedi died. He had taken it hard; blaming himself for all that had happened and became increasingly determined to prevent it from happening again. He had been goaded by a young teenager years later to take increasingly more drastic steps to do so.

It was no surprise that he fell.

His "reign of terror" as a dark Jedi wasn't to last, however. Only one Jedi set out to stop him: Siri. Lost in the crimson haze of the dark side, even she couldn't reach him at first. They fought on the rain-soaked buildings of Chandrila and in the end Obi-Wan had literally disarmed his former love. It was the finishing off part that he didn't have the heart to do. He submitted himself to the Jedi council, fully expecting to be exiled to some uninhabited planet for his misdeeds. Instead, he had been confined to a Force-nullifying cell for a year and then retrained.

Now, Obi-Wan almost wished he hadn't. The dark side beckoned to him as he crossed blades with Darth Vader, wanting him to unleash the anger that simmered deep inside the Jedi. _Avenge Siri_, it called out to him. _Make this pretender pay for what he's done_. He pushed the dark voice down and succeeded. Never again would he give in to those thoughts and emotions. He answered with compassion, strengthening his own body.

With a shove, he threw Vader back, the young Sith backpedaled slightly. K'Kruhk took advantage of the opening, the Whiphid Jedi Master swinging his lightsaber into the open space. Vader managed to bring his own blade up in time to parry the devastating strike and then twisted around, sending a slash towards the chest of his attacker. K'Kruhk blocked the attack and fell back a step, allowing Obi-Wan to slash towards the young Sith. That, too, was deflected away.

With the Force providing a much needed boost, Palpatine leapt from senate pod to senate pod, eager to reach the level where Grievous guarded. Behind him were Quinlan Vos and Mace Windu; the two Jedi leaping towards the Sith Lord in two different directions, trying to flank him.

Sidious turned towards the two Jedi and concentrated. Using the Force to rip two senate pods from their moorings, he hurled them towards them. Quinlan Vos didn't have the opportunity to leap clear of the attack as the two senate pods collided. He felt himself tumbling through the air and then violently hitting the ground. By the time he would regain consciousness, the whole thing would be over.

Mace Windu leapt off of his perch when the attack came, trading senate pod for senate pod in his mad dash to neutralize the former chancellor. Another pod was hurled his way, and he dodged it just the same. Finally, he was on the same level as Palpatine, only several meters away. The Sith turned to run towards the nearest exit and Mace followed. By the time that their swords clashed again, both were just stepping foot into the hallway. Alone, Mace slipped entirely into the Force, his love for combat burning like an overheating reactor. He attacked three times, each strike so quick that it was difficult for Palpatine to know exactly where the next attack was coming from. Windu's violet blade moved so quickly that only a single purple streak was present in the air. Yet Palpatine managed to block them all. This was Vapaad, and it was being matched.

Desperation clouded the dark side of the Force as Darth Vader continued his attacks on K'Kruhk and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The young Sith could feel the danger that his own master was in, and his location. "I'm afraid that I'll have to finish this now," he growled, pouring even more of his hatred and anger into his attacks, bending the will of the Force to himself more than ever. An attack pounded down K'Kruhk's blade and then jutted into his chest. Seriously wounded, the Whiphid Jedi Master slumped to the floor.

Obi-Wan backed away, feeling that at this moment he could not defeat the rampaging Sith. He reverted his combat stance to Soresu, a primarily defensive form of combat. He backpedaled, trying to find a weak point in Vader's attacks. He blocked strike after strike as he moved back, each parried attack angering his opponent even more.

"I…don't…have…time…for this!" Vader cried between attacks. He continued to send several power-filled attacks Obi-Wan's way. He then pushed the Jedi with the Force, knocking him back to the wall. With another simple power, he toppled the unconscious body of K'Kruhk onto his most recent victim. With all three of the Jedi that had been sent to stop him neutralized for the moment, he took off at an inhuman speed towards his master.

Darth Sidious parried the too numerous to count strikes from Mace Windu as the Korun Jedi Master was deep into Vaapad. The attacks came out of nowhere, and were so swift that they were difficult to parry. Sidious held on, however, and continued the battle. He sent a strike of his own headed towards Windu's midsection, dodging so that he wouldn't be beheaded. It was no great surprise that Mace was able to deflect that shot.

"You will not destroy us, Master Windu," Sidious taunted, spitting out the name of the Jedi Master he was fighting. "None of your kind have ever destroyed the Sith before."

"No," Windu warned, knowing history, "you do that perfectly well by yourselves." He continued his assault, playing slightly more conservative with the Vaapad than he did before. He spun around and sliced towards Palpatine's midsection, hoping that it would end the fight right then.

Sidious blocked the attack and retaliated. For several minutes the stalemate continued. Each step backwards that Sidious took brought the two combatants closer to Grievous, who was now 20 meters away in the curved hallway.

Windu blocked another one of Palpatine's strikes and was prepared to deliver a potentially killing blow. Then the burning began. Thanks to his enhanced combat reflexes, it began at the base of his spine and the continued on its way, burning organs and tissue as it severed his spine. Mace Windu snapped out of combat mode and watched as the tip of a red blade emerged from his chest. As he fell dying, he could hear the voice of Sidious praise his killer. "Thank you, Lord Vader."

"Not a problem, Master," Darth Vader replied as he picked up his lightsaber. "The others have been incapacitated, it's time to make our escape."

"No, my apprentice, we must not leave the planet for the time being," Sidious replied.

"Master?" Vader questioned.

"We must go to the Jedi Temple. The Sith may have lost for the time being, but we shall take as many of the Jedi out as we can!" he ranted.

Somehow, in Vader's mind, this mission didn't sound as suicidal as it would have to a normal dark Jedi. _Even Ventress would have considered this to be too bold_, Vader grinned. "Excellent thinking, Master," he finally replied. "Follow me, the shuttle is just this way."

"The clones are too many outside, my apprentice," Sidious stated. "Our battle droid escorts are too few. They would shoot us down the second we lifted off."

"A hostage, then," Vader suggested. "Where are the senators?"

"In a safe location, my apprentice," Sidious said before telling him which level the emergency bunkers were located. "They are likely to be heavily guarded, however."

"Wait with Grievous," Vader simply said, pulling the hood of his dark robe over his head. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

He walked to the nearest turbolift and pressed the button that corresponded to the level where he needed to go. The emergency bunkers were placed in one of the bottom levels of the senate building, the walls around them heavily fortified to sustain the falling rubble that would certainly occur if a turbolaser shot hit the building around it. Nearly a minute later, the doors of the lift slid open and Darth Vader stepped out, expecting a squad of troopers awaiting him.

He paused outside of the lift. His master had told him to turn right, but the Force was screaming at him to go left. He took a step to his right and stopped. Every nerve in his body told him that this was the wrong path to choose. He withdrew his foot, and then pivoted around, taking the left path.

He walked for meters, until finally he knew why the Force had led him there. A full squad of heavily armed clone troopers surrounded the door of what Vader assumed to be a refresher station. They were guarding somebody, and he smiled. So this is why the Force led him to this passageway. Before they even knew of his presence, the guards were felled by a gout of lightning that coursed over their bodies. Vader approached the door and waited.

It didn't take long for the senator to walk out, and he immediately grabbed her by the arm and pulled her completely out of the doorway. "You're coming with me, senator," he growled as he dragged her towards the turbolift. "Don't do anything stupid that would force me to destroy you."

Padme Amidala stopped struggling as she heard those words from the mouth of what she had known as a monster. The stories of Darth Vader's atrocities on the numerous battlefields were a testament to this and she knew that if she gave him _any _excuse whatsoever, she would join the other innocents in death. Maybe, just maybe, she prayed, the Force would have pity on her. At the moment, however, it didn't look good.

Obi-Wan knew that he should be chasing Vader and Sidious right now, but there was one thing he had to do. If he left now, he would never have the chance to say these words again. "I'm so sorry, Siri," he said, watching as she slowly died, "for everything. I was foolish back then, and so clouded with anger. I never meant to hurt you. I've always loved you." She could hear that declaration, having passed away the moment before those last words left his lips. Obi-Wan Kenobi picked up her fallen lightsaber and took one last look at her body. He then glanced over to the unconscious K'Kruhk, whose wound was already beginning to heal at a quicker than nature rate thanks to the Whiphid's proficiency with healing trances.

With these last movements, Obi-Wan ran towards the nearest turbolift. It was then that the tidal wave of Mace Windu's slaying hit him and all other Jedi.


	5. Part 5

Knightfall: Part 5

Padmé Amidala, the senator from Naboo, barely struggled as she was half-dragged through the halls of the senate. Around her right arm was the strong hand of the Sith known as Darth Vader. Inside of her mind raced all of the possibilities of what could happen: she would certainly be the Sith's hostage as they escaped the capital. After that, she didn't know. Hopefully, they would let her go. Realistically, she would be just another corpse in the hands of Vader.

She gasped as she saw the new monstrosity ahead of her. The face that haunted more nightmares of civilized sentients than perhaps even Vader's. Grievous. She struggled to free her self from Vader's grip, scared to death at the thought of being left in the care of the former Kaleesh warlord. Vader at least, she thought, had shown the capability of restraint in the past. "I said not to do anything _stupid_!" Vader cried out, yanking her violently towards the metallic beast. Numerous body parts that had once belonged to clone troopers littered the hallway, evidence of the butchery capable of the CIS military leader.

"Keep our escape route clean, general," Vader coolly said, knowing that he was essentially all but ordering the death of an allied sentient but simply not caring.

"It will be done, Lord Vader," Grievous said with a bow, removing the four lightsabers from his cloak once again.

As the two Sith and their hostage left the hallway for their shuttle, Grievous prepared himself to hold the line. Each of the lightsabers he wore was a trophy of war: the first blue and green blades coming from the first Jedi he had killed on Geonosis, the yellow-bladed weapon the "gift" of a recently knighted Jedi on Belderon, and finally the other green blade: pried from the severed hand of a Jedi Master named Merrick Fionst just a month previously. He twirled the extinguished blades in his four arms and prepared for the attack that was about to come.

"Master Ti," Obi-Wan said as he bowed in greeting of the Togruta Jedi Master as she reached his position. Taking a different entrance than the main one, the brown-robed woman had avoided much of the CIS-related commotion upon arriving.

"Are you the only one left?" she asked with her deceptively soft voice, the naturally sharp points of her teeth showing.

"Master Yoda is with the senators," Obi-Wan explained. "Siri is dead, Master K'Kruhk is injured, but stable." He mirrored Shaak Ti's action by removing his own lightsaber from his belt. "As to those assigned to neutralize Palpatine, Master Windu is dead, as is another."

"I, too, felt his death," Shaak Ti replied. "Hurry, we must go and prevent their escape." She jogged off through the corridors of the senate hall, Obi-Wan quickly following her.

They stopped a minute later when they saw the mangled bodies of the clones that Grievous had killed. Then they saw Grievous himself, four lightsabers blazing. The two Jedi barely had the time to ignite their own lightsabers before the mechanical general vaulted to their position. A heavy metal leg slammed into Shaak Ti's chest, throwing the Togruta Jedi back several meters and leaving Grievous and Obi-Wan alone for the five seconds that it took for her to get back to her feet.

In those five seconds, Obi-Wan drew upon as much of the Soresu knowledge that he had absorbed in the Jedi temple to deflect and dodge the four blades arcing towards him at superhuman speed. Ducking the upper slashes mere milliseconds before he moved his own blade to parry the attacks that the mechanical general made with his lower set of arms.

Obi-Wan struck back towards Grievous as well, sending a diagonal slash up towards the "groin" of his opponent. One lightsaber parried, and another aimed for Kenobi's neck. Obi-Wan backed away as the slice nearly took his head off. Shaak Ti bounced into the fray now, her senses completely restored. She aimed several graceful strikes at various locations of Grievous' body while dodging and deflecting the lightning fast attacks of her enemy. Obi-Wan followed her example and pressed his assault as well.

Grievous slowly backed away, his droid-enhanced brain doing all it could to help him win the fight. When trained by the Sith, he had always been told to rely on the element of surprise to help him win combat. Now that element was almost used up.

"Keep her here," Darth Vader ordered the droideka in the shuttle as the transport landed at the base of the Jedi temple. The droid clicked a positive response and armed the four blasters on its arms. The droid aimed at Padmé Amidala and waited.

Darths Sidious and Vader walked out of the transport, the robe of each Sith blowing silently in the soft wind, their lightsabers in their hands. A snarl at the statues of the four Jedi fundamental in founding the temple, a silent dare for the spirits of the Masters to stop them before their insidious task could be started. The gatekeeper scrambled for his lightsaber as the two Sith marched towards him, their gait slow and seemingly uncaring. He barely had time to ignite his now-drawn blade before Vader decapitated him.

"What's our plan of attack, Master?" Vader asked as he ripped the cortosis gates from their hinges.

"Kill as many as we can, Lord Vader," Sidious ordered. "Their best are either out in the field or still in the senate building. It should be simple."

With these words spoken, the two Sith calmly marched into the temple and then began their work. Teenaged Padawans raced to warn the older knights in the temple only to be slaughtered before taking two steps. With these victims, the next Jedi purge began…

Obi-Wan and Shaak Ti were deep into the Force when the tsunamis of death cascaded over them. The shock was almost enough to drop them out of their combat awareness, yet they remained in control of themselves. Lightsabers flashed in the artificial lighting as the three combatants struggled to finish each other off. The two Jedi slowly forced Grievous backwards, the fearsome general now reduced to three lightsabers thanks to Obi-Wan. The duel continued, with both Jedi doing their best to block the rapidly incoming attacks. Then, Obi-Wan saw an opening. Shaak Ti had just blocked two left-handed slashes headed her way and held them there as the droid warrior attempted to push the three lightsabers into her neck. Grievous raised his remaining right arm to decapitate the Togrutan Jedi and Obi-Wan's blade was there to intercept the metallic wrist as it moved down. The yellow blade deactivated as it flew through the air, and Obi-Wan twisted about to get in a good attack.

With a lunge, Obi-Wan's blade found the weak spot in Grievous' armor: the bottom of the two metal "ribs" that protected the bag containing what remained of the general's vital organs. There was resistance as the blade forced it's way under the plates but soon a howl of pain erupted from Grievous' vocabulator as the tip of the blade poked the bag. The general brought one of his remaining 'sabers towards Obi-Wan, forcing the Jedi to dodge out of the way, his blue blade still partially embedded in Grievous' chest. Obi-Wan dodged another slice as he removed the second lightsaber from his belt. He ignited the borrowed weapon, the pink blade shimmering into existence right before blocking one of Grievous' blades.

Shaak Ti shifted aside as a kick headed her way and then brought her own lightsaber down upon it, nicking the lightsaber resistant metal before it could be withdrawn. She tilted her head away from another slash, making sure that her tall montrals weren't severed. Obi-Wan tried to get in close to Grievous and push his own blade deeper into the chest, but was forced to fall back as Grievous kicked at him.

By a strange twist of the Force, Grievous backed away once again and found something unexpected: one of his own lightsabers. He grasped the hilt in his foot and then mentally powered up the repulsorlifts in his legs. Hefting the new blade with his foot, Grievous arced all three of his blades towards his opponents.

Obi-Wan leapt over the low blade and then closed in on Grievous. With his left hand he meagerly managed to push the embedded lightsaber only a centimeter more, still not enough. Now it was time for the two Jedi to back away as the droid general pressed his suicidal attack.

Then the idea came to their heads. Concentrating on the lightsaber planted firmly in Grievous' metal ribs, they both telekinetically shoved the lightsaber deeper. The tip of the blade punctured the bag of organs and lit the oxygen-rich atmosphere. Flames spouted from what remained of Grievous' organic parts as he burned alive. The cyborg general flailed his arms and dropped the three lightsabers he was wielding. Within a minute he had fallen dead on the floor of a senate hallway.

"We must hurry to the temple," Shaak Ti said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "They're being slaughtered in there."

"I'll contact Master Yoda," Obi-Wan said as he pulled his own lightsaber from the charred metal skeleton of Grievous. "He might want to go to the temple personally." Shaak Ti nodded at his suggestion and then began heading off towards her airspeeder.

Darth Vader's head throbbed from the impact of a particular heavy Holocron in Cin Drallig's training room, fortunately the only lasting injury he had sustained during his battle with the temple's senior lightsaber instructor. The room he was entering was almost as wrecked as the sparring room. The once great temple library was ransacked. Lightsaber burns wreaked havoc across rows of datapads and dead Jedi littered across tables and on the floor. All but one of the nineteen bronzium busts of Jedi Masters were desecrated, leaving only a single Umbaran head remaining. Vader wondered why his Master had chosen not to destroy that particular bust.

Vader took a moment to view the Jedi bodies as he walked across the floor of the library. An elderly woman in golden-colored robes lay on the floor, a lightsaber hilt in her hand. If Vader remembered correctly, she was the one in charge of the Jedi archives. By her side was a middle-aged man, gaunt and bald. A thin strip of leather covered his eyes. He was dead as well.

And then, despite everything that Vader had done and seen, the "parade" of bodies began to become more and more disturbing. Younglings, all of them younger than their species age of sexual maturity. Each on slain with a lightsaber. Palpatine himself was standing over a black-haired human Padawan, slain just as Vader had entered the room.

"Master, why the younglings?" he asked. They were slaves, he thought, just like he had been. "They could have been allies."

"They were far too indoctrinated into the Jedi way, Lord Vader," Sidious simply said as he closed his lightsaber down. "They would surely turned on us."

"What of the other Jedi that joined our cause in the war? They were far older than these," he said, motioning to the bodies on the floor.

"There are some special occasions, Lord Vader," Sidious lectured as he inspected the single lightsaber slash in his robe. "They were not one of them."

"Yes, Master," Vader reluctantly assented.

"They would have only become threats to us in the future," Sidious continued, walking out of the library and into the main hallway. "We must leave here now," he said suddenly as an icy cold hand grasped at his heart. Someone immensely powerful was headed towards the temple now, and Sidious knew that facing this Grand Master would mean his death.

The two Sith Lords swiftly walked out of the building, ignoring the surviving Jedi as they emerged from their hiding places. Now, the survival of the Sith Order was more important than even them.


	6. Part 6

Knightfall: Part 6

Obi-Wan Kenobi stood in stunned silence as he saw the carnage of the Jedi temple strewn about before him. Most of the dead bodies had already been carted away by surviving Jedi, but the work was far from finished. The library was untouched at the moment. "I can't believe this," he finally said.

Yoda looked up at the Jedi Knight from his hoverchair, his own eyes filled with silence. The air stank of smoke and a multitude of items burning. The aged Jedi Master bowed his head, a simple movement that seemed like an understatement for the grief that had to be attempting to control him. "With the Force they are now," Yoda finally said. "Yet miss them we all will."

He urged his hoverchair forward, passing the bodies of a heartbreaking number of younglings. Yoda studied carefully the vandalism that Palpatine and his apprentice had left. The bronzium busts of the twenty Jedi Masters that had willingly left the order were all beheaded at their metal neck. All but one. Puzzled, Yoda studied the Umbaran face and wondered why this one had been spared destruction, unknowingly duplicating the same action that Vader had done just minutes previously.

"Master Yoda," Shaak Ti said from the doorway. "We've gotten a bead on their shuttle; it's headed back to the _Invisible Hand_."

"To the hangar bays you, Obi-Wan and whoever capable is left, go," Yoda ordered. "Stay here, I must."

Obi-Wan, Shaak Ti, and two other Jedi raced through the floors of the Jedi temple, headed towards the hangar bay. Inside of the massive room numerous space craft sat unused, unmolested by the Sith in their slaughter. The four Jedi boarded the nearest of the starfighters: sleek craft with a oval cockpit flanked by two thin wings. Astromech droids chirped nervously from their sockets as the pilots entered the craft. Obi-Wan's craft was a dull orange, the paint chipped off of it in recent battles. His R2 droid greeted him, HELLO typed out on a small display in the cockpit.

"Hello," Obi-Wan obligingly replied, earning a chirp and a whistle from his droid. "And what is your name?"

R2-D2, the droid replied, a flash of recognition in Obi-Wan's brain soon identifying the droid. It was the same droid that had miraculously repaired then-Queen Amidala's space yacht 13 years previously. Without that droid's help—or if he had been a few seconds too slow, who knows what could have happened to them?

"Well, R2," he said as the final portion of the preflight checklist was crossed off, "it's certainly interesting to see you again." Another beep and whistles as the droid lifted the interceptor gently off of the landing pad. "You're getting targeting information from central control?" Obi-Wan asked as he continued to read the display screen. "Set the main objective as the _Invisible Hand_. Our Sith are very soon going to be onboard that craft and we'd like to be aboard it before they manage to escape into hyperspace." Artoo-Deetoo gave a confirming trill and set the autopilot to head for the Separatist flagship.

By now, a majority of the droid starfighters and tri-fighters had begun to flee from the besieged capital planet; following the beacon activated by Palpatine to protect the Sith's shuttle as raced back to the safety of the flagship.

The Jedi flew over the flaming wreckage that was Coruscant at the moment. Black smoke partially obscured their vision as it rose from the burning buildings below. This area had been hit particularly hard during the assault and would take years to rebuild properly, not to mention billions of credits.

"Some scarabs are turning around to face us," Shaak Ti reported in as her R3 droid painted her sensor scope red. The four Jedi nearly simultaneously switched their autopilot off and double checked their weapons. "We can't waste time on them. Engage them only if they become too big a nuisance. I've called in for some help from clone squadron 8311x and they're heading towards us. They'll be with us in about five minutes."

Now the scarabs were barely visible to the naked eye. Using the Force to sharpen his eyesight beyond what was possible for a human. The incoming droid starfighters were an accurate match to their name; a flat, insect like body with two wings rigged to the craft like a naval outrigger. Obi-Wan blinked and his eyes returned to normal vision as he made sure the craft's laser cannons were armed. A quick movement of his eyes checked the sensors of the craft before returning to look at the ever growing dots on the "horizon".

"Plow through them, taking as many potshots as you can," Shaak Ti ordered as the scarabs came extremely close to firing range. Half a second later, the firing began. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and trusted in the Force to get him through this. He had never really liked piloting despite his higher than average aptitude for it, and he disliked combat flying especially.

Obi-Wan's left foot tapped the rudder of his craft lightly, shifting the interceptor to the left. His hand pulled the trigger on the flight stick, unleashing two shots each from his laser cannons. The first volley impacted with the shields of the Trade Federation made craft, collapsing them in a flash of green light. The second hit the ship on the right wing, completely vaporizing it and causing the droid starfighter to spin uncontrollably to the ground below. Another scarab burst into flame next to the dying craft, compliments of Obi-Wan's wingman.

The scarabs opened fire as well, but the extremely quick reflexes of the Jedi pilots enabled them to jink out of the way with ease. The enemy starfighters blew past the Jedi and seconds later pulled an inhumanly tight turn in an effort to get behind their prey. Obi-Wan rolled his fighter around as the ever-thinning atmosphere finally turned into the vacuum of space.

There the battle was still going on. _Venator_-class Star Destroyers, Dreadnaughts, _Carrack_-class light cruisers and other Republic-made ships clashed with the retreating forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Starfighters of both sides flew between the ships, dodging the massive turbolaser shots fired from their allies and enemies. A V-wing squadron, flown by pilots mainly consisting of clones, rushed out of the fray and towards the four Jedi starfighters. "Greetings Master Jedi," the squadron leader said, "sorry we're—um—not late. I know you have a flair for the dramatic and all."

"Cut the chatter, Joker," Shaak Ti reprimanded the clone with an overly developed sense of humor. "Get these scarabs off of our back."

"Already getting there," Joker replied, launching a salvo of laser fire against the closest scarab droid, destroying it with ease. He and his fellow pilots continued their assault, pouring fire upon their enemy. It didn't take long for the outdated and outgunned starfighters to be destroyed. "You're clear from that angle, Jedi. Now let us clear the road for you."

The V-wings accelerated, nearly matching the speed of the Jedi interceptors, and headed towards the _Providence_-class cruiser known as the _Invisible Hand_. In their way were an unknown amount of the modern droid starfighters and their new "cousin" the tri-fighters. Their drives lit up in the distance, looking like lumibugs on various planets in the galaxy.

"Master Ti," Obi-Wan reported as Artoo fed him the latest information, "Captain Needa has just reported in that he has managed to bring the _Hand_'s shields down."

"Has he been notified of the hostage, Obi-Wan?" she asked, concentrating mainly on vaping the Tri-fighter in front of her.

"He apparently has as he is lightening his attack significantly," Obi-Wan answered, looping around and braking his starfighter slightly to slip behind a Vulture droid that had been continuously troubling him. His attack hit the starfighter in the droid's brain, disabling it immediately.

"Two kilometers away," Valin Halcyon reported in the fourth and final Eta 2. "I've got the hangar's shields." The Corellian Jedi shifted his appropriately green-colored starfighter to the right and aimed at an area to the right of the glowing blue containment field. Flames erupted into space and then quickly died out as the lack of oxygen smothered them. Almost as quickly as the containment field died, emergency procedures snapped into place, sending a thick metal door to slam shut on the open "wound" of the spaceship.

"Accelerate into it," Shaak Ti cried out. "Hurry!"

The four Jedi starfighters rocketed through the rapidly closing window, barely being able to brake their fighters as they entered the depleting atmosphere. Obi-Wan's wingmate, however, wasn't as lucky. His agile spacecraft's left wing clipped the door as it passed through the narrowing opening, shredding it completely off. The craft spun through the air like a simple toy for younglings, and crashed into a couple of unlaunched Tri-fighters on the other side of the hangar bay. There was no need to check to see if the pilot was alive. Not even a Jedi could have survived that crash.

The three remaining Jedi landed their starfighters on the nearly empty hangar floor and popped their canopies open as soon as the hangar was sealed once again. The oxygen in the room was thin but increasing steadily as the life support systems worked overtime to compensate for the recent incident. One silver and two blue lightsabers ignited as the Jedi leapt out of the cockpits. What droids remained in the hangar opened fire, only to quickly be cut down by their own blaster shots.

The wizard's tower on the _Invisible Hand_ was deathly silent as Darth Sidious watched the Jedi land in the main hangar. With them arriving, he could feel the Force shifting once again towards the light. The time of the Sith, it seemed, was over. Yet he was not the kind of man to silently give in to his fate. He had based his entire life around bending the Force to his own will, not letting the Force decide it's own. He would survive, as would Lord Vader. The Sith _would_ win.

"Lord Vader," he croaked, "kill our hostage. It seems that our advantage in holding her is no more…"


	7. Conclusion

Knightfall: Part 7

Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber blazed a brilliant blue as he and the other Jedi jogged their ways through the hallways of the _Invisible Hand_. The turbolift that had originally led directly to the wizard's tower was now covered in the flaming wreckage of their fallen comrade. Battle droids and their upgraded cousins poured fire towards them, forcing the Jedi to take their time traversing the blackened halls.

Metal fell to the floor as the redirected blaster fire felled their firers. The Jedi steadily advanced towards the end of the hall where another turbolift was positioned. Their reaching it wasn't going to be easy, however. Two droidekas rolled into the hallway near the turbolifts and unfurled themselves. Their shields went online right before they poured blaster fire into the hallway.

The Jedi crushed themselves behind small outcroppings in the hallway as the torrent of blasterfire flew their way. "Cover me!" Valin Halcyon cried out as he jammed his silver-bladed lightsaber into a locked door. Shaak Ti and Obi-Wan dug deep into their reserves, making their reactions even quicker as they deflected the rapid shots towards their enemies. A few standard battle droids were blown to pieces in the process.

"Got it!" Valin cried out nearly a minute later as he kicked the door in, crying out in pain as part of the molten slag set his boot on fire. As his compatriots stormed into the room to avoid the droids, the Corellian Jedi snuffed the burning boot against the wall. Without another word, the three Jedi moved down the hall, Obi-Wan running backwards to cover the group. It would still be a long way to go.

"By the Force," Obi-Wan Kenobi swore 15 minutes later as he viewed the carnage that once was the Wizard's Tower of the Separatist ship. Darth Sidious lay cleaved in half near a chair at the far end of the room, his lightsaber laying a meter next to him.

"What happened here?" Valin Halcyon said as he spied the fallen form of Darth Vader, the once fearsome Sith Lord laying dead below the uprised platform. Sitting over him was the senator that the two Sith had kidnapped.

"He wouldn't kill me," the shocked senator finally said as the Jedi descended the stairs. "He said he couldn't…"

Obi-Wan Kenobi cautiously walked over to the fallen Sith and noticed the lightsaber wound that burned across his chest. The fallen Sith's eyes were open and had reverted back to their natural blue. He checked for a pulse as a formality, knowing that he was already dead. He pivoted on his knee to face the stunned senator from Naboo. "What exactly happened, Padmé?" he asked.

The senator replied to his question shakingly, as if she were trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together in her head. "Palpatine ordered him to kill me," were her first words. "He seemed kind of confused about it. He said that it wasn't necessary."

"They turned on each other?" Shaak Ti asked.

"No," Padme replied. "Not really." The Jedi looked at each other in confusion. How could this have happened if they hadn't? "Palpatine drew his lightsaber," she continued, "and Vader did the same. Only he did it to protect me."

"Are you saying that _Darth Vader_ actually attempted to prevent a murder from taking place?" Valin Halcyon asked, the unbelievable nature of the story overriding the skill he had for investigation.

"That's what it looks like," Obi-Wan replied. "Strange…"

"They fought each other," Padme continued. "Vader seemed to be outmatched at first, but he soon gained an upper hand. Eventually," she added after a brief pause to catch her breath, "they killed each other."

Padme finally stood up. "He said—as he lay dying—that he could sense you coming. He wanted to say that he was sorry for everything that he did."

Obi-Wan probed the senator with the Force, looking for any sign of deception or mental tampering. Hostages, he knew, sometimes had a particularly nasty habit of forming a type of attachment with their captors. There was, however, no deception in her words, he learned. She believed everything that she had told them.

"Come with us," the Jedi Knight said as he stood up himself. "We need to get out of here, the droids have not given up in this battle and we must make it out of here before a Republic Admiral gives the order to return fire."

Senator Amidala agreed with Kenobi's assessment and began to head up the stairs, flanked by Valin. Obi-Wan gently tapped Shaak Ti on the shoulder as they began to leave, causing the Jedi Master to stop. "Do you think that what she said happened was entirely true?" he asked her.

"Through the Force," Shaak Ti replied after a few seconds of thought, "stranger things have happened. Keep in mind the lesson of Rhen Var four millennia ago," she began.

"Meditated on the recent occurrences, I have," Yoda said three days later as the remnants of the Jedi Council along with those involved in the mission sat in silence in the vandalized council chambers. The battle was long over with, and the CIS leaders had surrendered themselves to the Republic just a few hours previously. The aged alien rubbed his right hand against his jaw before continuing. "Truthful the young senator was. Through the Force, visions I have seen of this conflict. Away from the dark, Vader was."

"It just seems so out of character," Obi-Wan replied. "A man who has killed nearly indiscriminately in the past to suddenly protect a person that he never really knew."

"I went through the security archives of the siege," Valin replied from his seat in the middle of the chamber. "And he did not take well to Palpatine's slaughter of the younglings," he reported. "Although he did mention that they would make good apprentices… Still," he supposed, "it was a start."

"Or a quick way to explain his change of heart," Quinlan Vos replied, causing Yoda to nod his head in agreement.

"A long to go we will have before explained this whole incident is," Yoda stated. "And more pressing matters we have before us."

"With Mace Windu killed by Vader, we lost an entire High Council to the Clone Wars," Shaak Ti reported. "Even now, our current incarnation is down to 10 members." She took a deep breath. "It is our responsibility now to choose the succesors of the fallen."

"I take it that you're done with us, then," Obi-Wan said as he and Valin stood up and prepared to exit the council chambers.

"You may stay, Obi-Wan," Shaak Ti replied. "We know that you have had your run-ins with the dark side in the past," she stated, her eyes not leaving Obi-Wan's. "Your fall, however, was relatively quickly resolved with little loss of life or injuries to the Republic and the Jedi order. After your redemption, you made your amends to the Republic, those you did injure, and us. Most importantly, you made your amends to yourself."

Obi-Wan stood in the middle of the council chamber, confused about what was happening. They wouldn't, he thought.

"We know that you had feelings for Siri Tachi," Shaak Ti continued, "and that those feelings remained with you while she was killed by Darth Vader. Despite this, you should a remarkable control of your anger. You did not allow it to once again cloud your memories and control your actions."

"For your actions now and in the past, confer upon you the rank of Jedi Master we do," Yoda said. "A seat on the council we grant to you as well."

Obi-Wan Kenobi opened his mouth to thank the other Jedi Masters as they sat in their seats but no words could come out of his mouth. He had never expected to attain the rank of Master in his life after his fall, let alone being granted a seat on the High Council. Finally, a single phrase managed to worm its way out. "Thank you, Masters."

"There is no thanks necessary," the holographic form of Plo Koon—the Jedi Master that Obi-Wan had been apprenticed to shortly after Qui-Gon's death—said from the CIS purse world of Cato Nemoidia. "In the past decade you have proven yourself despite your falling. The decision to elevate you was unanimous."

"Sorry to interrupt this, I am," Yoda said, tapping the end of his cane against the floor, "but a lot of work must be done. Rebuilt this Jedi order must be."

"Rebuilt?" Obi-Wan questioned.

"Flawed we all were for the past millennia. Allowed this to happen in our arrogance we did."

"What are you suggesting?" Shaak Ti asked.

"Over the next three decades or so, phase out the effects of the Rusaan Reformation we will," Yoda suggested.

"What of the Republic," Obi-Wan asked, wanting to change the subject for the time being. "Their leader is dead and several laws enacted by him are now clearly unjust."

"Yes, our problems they must wait," Yoda conceded. "Temporary Chancellorship of the senate have Bail Organa take. Our council we will provide if asked."

"Agreed," Plo Koon said.

"I agree as well," Obi-Wan said. "We have a long way to go though. A long way…"


End file.
